Measuring Up [Selenus]

“Hmmm…” The piece of tailoring before Selenus had a certain… ‘je ne sais quoi’ that made him glad that this piece was the one out of all of Paige’s works that he’d be trying on. It was very elegant, to say the least, and it definitely matched with Simon’s core aesthetic – gothic, but not overly so, and with an air of confidence and authority. “Yes, this works.” Selenus’s tail began to gently and carefully remove the button-up shirt and vest from the mannequin, making sure not to damage or dishevel them in any way, and placed them on Paige’s unoccupied table as a form of support, as Selenus lacked the gift of having more than one grasping appendage. The next step was to summon Simon, which Selenus did immediately, his original body disappearing from the perceivable universe in all senses but touch. Immediately after summoning Simon as normal, however, Selenus noticed the critical mistake he was making. Simon already had clothing of his own, and he was going to attempt to put new clothing on him; it shouldn’t be at all hard to summon Simon without his shirt and coat, but… there was a lady in the room, and a very traditionally-minded one at that. Selenus called back Simon, his robotic canine form appearing again. “You uh… you might want to turn around for a bit.” He was perfectly comfortable with Simon being seen without a shirt on, as even if he had a reason for shame it wasn’t even his real body, but he did have to be mindful of the other person present.

After Paige turned around, Selenus would summon Simon again, but this time without his upper clothing. Now began the third step of the plan: making the most of the length of his tail.


Selenus’s tail, though currently imperceptible, would begin to coil up into the shape of Simon’s torso. Out of the ten meters worth of tail length he could coil up, five were used up in forming the torso; after he’d finished forming collarbone area, Selenus’s tail would form the left arm before bending over, going back over the left arm and the torso and forming the right arm, with his tail wires acting as the hand and fingers. Though in a manner heavily improvised, Simon’s upper body (save his head) was now tangible and ready to put on the shirt and vest. He began to use the free end of his tail to wrap the shirt around his arms, though he was unable to close or button it due to his lack of a tangible second hand. Figuring he could deal with that later, he put on the vest as well and straightened it out, fully giving it the regal, elegant feel it strived for. Now the only thing that was left was to button the undershirt and the vest, for as it stood Simon’s mid-chest and mid-abdomen was exposed and the attire looked… less than elegant, to say the least. Selenus tried with all his might to button up the shirt using only one hand, but it proved to be impossible; no force in the world could keep the other side of the shirt steady enough for Selenus to push the button through it, or open up the buttonholes to begin with. Selenus didn’t really see any way he could put this on like this, but he really wanted to impress Paige with the outfit she’d given him; he’d feel like he was being rude, even, if he just told her to forget about it. “Uh… Paige?” He called out, questioning if this was alright ever-so-slightly. “I uh… can’t button these up like this. Do you think you could help me out a bit?”

She wasn't certain how used to Simon she was going to get. Selenus was one thing: a guest, her first in ages. Simon felt like...a stranger, almost. It did not help that she hadn't been in the company of a man besides her brother for...oh, when was 1924...? But, she decided, she'd adapt.

Although mildly confused as to why Selenus swapped from human to canine, she complied with his request and turned around, amusing herself by...well, nothing really. Patience was one of her finer points (as expected for around lady), so she was content with merely looking at her desk and listening to the rustle of fabric. It confused her momentarily, thinking back on it. Simon couldn't be touched. How was he supposed to wear clothes? ...An illusio n, perhaps...?

"Hm? Oh, yes, of course." Turning at Selenus' request, she dutifully glanced over his form and on instinct straightened out the vest even more. Solid...not an illusion, then. But what? She mulled the question over as she began to button the garment. On the second to last button, however, her fingers brushed over something smooth, and her face colored slightly. "Oh, m-my apologies, I am dreadfully sorry." She managed to choke out, avoiding looking at both Simon (Selenus?)'s face or chest. Goodness, touching her brother was one thing, but...

Finishing hastily, Paige smiled and gestured to a full length mirror in the corner. "Would you like to see? I believe int suits...you rather well." She she it stumbled slightly, uncertain whether or not to view Selenus and Simon as the same person or not. Would doing so be insulting...?

Selenus’s holographic form couldn’t help but blush lightly at the touch of Paige’s hand. It wasn’t a surprise that Simon was capable of blushing, as the hologram was designed to translate all of Selenus’s emotions and actions into common human body language and movements, thus if Selenus was flustered it was only natural that this would occur. The real question was: “why” was Selenus flustered? He’d been touched by Paige and a million other people before, and his tail wasn’t exactly a sensitive spot or anything of the sort. In fact, he wasn’t even capable of feeling physical senses first-hand, which only heightened the mystery. Maybe he’d have to look into it later.

As Paige finished buttoning him up and brought out the mirror, Selenus realized that he looked… pretty good, actually. A little too formal for his taste, but it was still an undeniably aesthetically pleasing style. He could pass for a nobleman at a renaissance fair if he really wanted to. “It looks great!” He cheerfully exclaimed, pleased with the outcome. “I suppose you’re wondering how I managed to actually put this on to begin with, and what you tou… *ahem* what you touched earlier was.” Selenus temporarily undid the illusion, revealing the framework-like tangling of his tail that he’d made prior to putting the clothes on. “Pretty clever, huh?”

Cheerful as he might’ve been trying to be, Selenus couldn’t help but notice that Paige seemed a little… distraught; like there was something on her mind that was bothering her, just the same as Trinity earlier that day. “Paige…” He began. “Are you alright? You look like you wanna say something.”